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UNICEF appeals for help for children affected by violence in Ukraine

Xinhua, January 28, 2015 Adjust font size:

Over 1,000 children are forced to seek refuge in underground bomb shelters in Donetsk city amid the ongoing violence in eastern Ukraine, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said on Tuesday.

"Children in the affected areas have been suffering enormous levels of stress due to the ongoing conflict," said Giovanna Barberis, UNICEF Representative in Ukraine, in a statement.

"The most vulnerable are those who are forced to seek refuge in unsanitary, crowded and freezing cellars and bomb shelters, children living on the streets, and those who come from poor families or whose homes have been severely damaged," she added.

Statistics from UNICEF showed that since March 2014, over 1.5 million people have been displaced from the conflict-affected areas in the eastern European country, including nearly 1 million people within Ukraine; of these, more than 130,000 are children.

The UN organ that focuses on protecting and promoting children's wellbeing urged all parties to the conflict in Ukraine to keep children out of harm's way and appealed the international community to provide necessary humanitarian assistance for those affected. Enditem